What It Tastes Like
by Kanzashi-chan
Summary: AU. Sakura has left the home she loved, only to be brought to a place that only brings back bad memories. What happens when she stumbles upon the man she thought she never knew existed, until her memories of him start to come back. GaaSaku R&R Please!
1. Chapter 1

**What It Tastes Like**

**Chapter 1**

Sakura pulled out her arms and stretched as she yawned loudly. Of course, the taxi driver paid her no mind, as he had done the entire two hour trip from the city to the suburbs. Sakura finished, and let her hands slump into her lap, letting her head fall back against the car's headrest. Swiveling her head to the side, she watched as the car next to her passed her by, showing the many large and expensive houses along the street.

The pink haired girl sighed and moved her head forward again, watching the oncoming traffic pass her by instead of a bunch of houses she would never step foot in, let alone afford. She didn't want to be coming back, and she never ever thought she would have to.

Her father had fought so hard for custody of the seventeen year old, she was surprised he had even showed up to the court cases. After leukemia struck her mother in the worst way, Sakura knew she would have to be moving in with her father whether she wanted to or not. Her mother's days had been numbered, and Sakura knew better than to think the judge would let her stay downtown and live with one of her many girl-friends from her school.

But then again, it was the first time she had seen her father in four years. He normally just sent a nice present for her birthday and Christmas. Each present had been utterly thoughtless, it was as though he thought buying her nice things like computers and cell phones was going to make up for him never being around or hurting her mother. Sakura remembered her mother working two or three jobs before the divorce just to keep the debt collectors from knocking on their door. After the divorce, the judge assigned to their case placed Sakura with her mother and aunt in the city.

The pink haired girl had never been happier, sure, she left her friends, but at the time she had thought she would be back every month for a weekend like the judge granted her father. But those small visits never happened, mostly because her father never showed up to pick her up, or wasn't home when she was dropped off. He left the teenager in the rain, until she finally got fed up each time from getting soaked and called a taxi to come pick her up and drive her back to her real home.

In fact the last time she had seen Naruto she had been in that exact predicament. The blonde lived only a few houses away, and they had been friends since they were toddlers in a sandbox. She was sent to her father's for spring break, and found her father not home. So she sat there, waiting with her suitcase for three hours in the rain for him to come back. He never did of course, he was obviously getting drunk somewhere, or skipping out on the job he promised her mother he had.

_Low-life._ Sakura said to herself as she stretched herself out in the taxi cab for the hundredth time in two hours. She had no respect left for her father at all, she didn't even believe him to be her father. Her father was a kind man who was smiling taping her with a video camera during her eighth birthday as she blew out the candles on her birthday cake. Her father had been such a good parent, always fixing something around the house, and coming home every night after Sakura had come home from school. He had helped her with her homework and taught her how to write her letters properly. He was the kind of man who would surprise Sakura's mother with flowers for no reason and beautiful jewelry at Christmas. He had been such a good father, and kind husband.

That all ended the day he lost his job because of his company going bankrupt. Before the closing, Sakura's mother never had a job, and was constantly at home. After the pink haired girl's father lost his job, he was the one who was home all day. But it wasn't always like that, he had tried for months to get a job, and kept telling her mother it was only temporary until he found another job. Months went by, then years and slowly her father wasn't her father anymore. He had been an empty shell sitting on the family couch watching the television, a beer or other form of alcohol in his hand. He also started going out at night, and not coming back home until Sakura was leaving for school.

He spent all of the money the girl's mother brought home until the woman started to keep the money away from him. She hid it everywhere in the house and opened a separate bank account, and would slip Sakura money everyday to go to school with. That's when Sakura had decided to start saving her money. Instead of buying an entire lunch at school, she would buy a milk and apple and save the rest. The small girl had saved all of that money and had presented her mother with it. But her mother had told her not to give the money to anyone, and to keep it until she found something she really really wanted to buy with the cash.

That didn't last much longer as Sakura started to hear her mother yelling at night, screaming at the top of her lungs. Her father had been yelling back, screaming, throwing things, crying. Sakura would find herself hiding under her covers at night and hugging her pillow to her in the fetal position. The young girl didn't know what to do, her mother was angry, and her father was angrier.

These fights lasted for over a year, until one night Sakura heard a loud noise during one of her parents annual fights in the night. It sounded like a clap of thunder to the small girl, and soon after, her mother stormed into her room and shook her awake.

"_Sakura, get your things, we're leaving."_ Her mother had said to her, and nothing else.

Sakura jolted as the taxi took a sharp left, turning into a small neighborhood. Memories didn't flow back as the pink haired teenager expected them to. In fact, she just stared out the window until the taxi slowed down and the driver put on his turn signal. He pulled into a driveway with a shabby looking house connected to it. Sakura opened her door once the car stopped and pulled herself out of the vehicle. She looked at her old house, taking it in for just one moment. She didn't remember the wood being so rotted, or the windows being foggy like that when she had left. Looked like her father hadn't cleaned since that night her mother left.

"Where would you like these ma'am?" The driver asked, looking at Sakura with two very large suitcases in his hands.

Sakura turned around and faced the man, rushing to his side and grabbing one of the suitcases. "I'm sorry. You can just put them next to the door for now." Sakura stated, pulling the heavy case with her and she started to walk up the driveway to the stairs leading into her old house.

The driver set down the suitcase he was holding, then walked down the stairs again and went to the trunk of the taxi grabbing another suitcase and dragging that towards the stairs. Sakura set down her suitcase as well and rapped quickly on the door, hoping her father would hurry up and let her in. She waited, and heard no shuffling or any movement of any kind coming from behind the door. Sighing, she walked down the stairs again, passing by the driver and pulled open the backdoor of the vehicle. She grabbed her messenger bag and pulled it over her shoulder, then another bag containing her laptop. She pushed the car door with her foot with enough force to close it but not make the driver mad.

When she turned around she hoped her father would already be standing at the door, helping the driver with the bags. But again, the door remained unopened and unmoving. Growling inwardly, Sakura trudged up the stairs, passing by the driver going back to his cab and shutting the trunk. He looked up at Sakura with his old eyes. "Ma'am, does your acquaintance know you were coming?"

Sakura sighed to herself. "Yes, he did." She rapped on the door one more time and then turned back around to face the man. "It's okay, you can go ahead. He normally does this, he should be back soon." And with that she pulled up her messenger bag and pulled out her wallet. Searching through the piece of leather, she grabbed a few bills and walked down to hand them to the man.

The driver nodded, grabbing the cash and pocketing it. He then walked around his car to the driver side and got in. Sakura swiveled around and climbed back up the stairs to the door, it was still closed, and it didn't look as though anyone was home. She wasn't even sure if her father owned a car to where she would recognize it when it pulled in the driveway. The teen listened as the taxi's motor roared to life and in no time, it was down the street turning right to go back to the city. Sakura silently wished she was in that car, for she wanted nothing more to be back at her mother's apartment, watching soap operas with her aunt and getting up to answer her phone calls from her many girl-friends from her all-girl's school.

Again, reality had to set in and Sakura realized she wasn't going back to the city. She was stuck in this old neighborhood with her old friends that probably wouldn't recognize her if she popped up on their doorstep.

Cursing to herself for letting the taxi driver drive off, she turned around and let herself slide down the door leading into her old… no, _new_ home. The pink haired girl pulled her legs to her body as she rested her chin on one of her knees. She focused on some small kids running around the bigger, more lavish house across the street from her own. When she lived here, she never noticed the size difference between her house and every other one on the block. She also never noticed that her house was made of rotting wood, while the other where made of brick and stones. The other houses had fences, large driveways and expensive cars decorating the slab of concrete their tires rested upon.

Sakura also watched the cars drive by, until she realized she had been waiting for almost an hour for her father to arrive home. The girl banged the back of her head against the door as she grew bored of all this waiting, and she silently wished she hadn't used up her laptop's battery on the drive out here. Closing her eyes, she listened to the kids playing across the street, silently wishing she was with them, young again and without a care in the world. But a loud thumping decided to stop her thoughts as she opened her eyes to see a very expensive looking SUV drive up into the driveway next door to the very house she was sitting at.

Blinking a few times to clear her foggy contacts, Sakura stared at the SUV and noticed all the windows were tinted, so that even if she wanted to, she couldn't see who was in it. She remembered her next door neighbors being rather rich growing up, remembering they had three kids, two being a bit older than her and the other. The other… she had never seen in her life. She remembered the girl and the boy, in fact, the girl had been Sakura's best friend for about two days in preschool, until Sakura refused to share her Barbie. This caused the other girl to cry and tell on Sakura to the teacher, who strictly reminded the pink haired toddler that not sharing was not tolerated in the school.

After a minute or two, a blonde woman stepped out of the large vehicle. She had a business suit on and was yelling rather informally into her cell phone. Sakura could make out small words, but they weren't very nice to say the least. But the other blonde girl caught Sakura's attention, she was skinny and rather tall with half of her face hidden by her gorgeous golden locks. Before Sakura could say anything, the girl stared over towards the pink haired girl. The blonde girl stopped walking towards the house and the smile faded from her face as her violet eyes met Sakura's green ones.

For a second it looked as though the girl was going to follow the yelling woman into the house, but instead she just pointed. "SAKURA!?"

No doubt about it, she was exactly who Sakura thought she was. The pink haired girl lifted herself up from the cold stairs and walked down them, pointing back at the girl with a smile on her face. "Ino!"

The blonde haired girl screeched, ran to the other girl and pulled her into a huge hug.

"I haven't seen or heard from you in years!" She exclaimed, letting Sakura go. The blonde then put her fists at her hips and her smile melted. "How come you never came to visit, or called, or wrote, or ANYTHING!?!"

Sakura scratched the back of her head, embarrassed. "I did come by a few times, but most of the time I had to leave early."

"Oh really? I never saw you once around at all and figured your father lost complete custody or something." Ino exclaimed, taking her hands off her hips and grabbing Sakura's other hand with hers, pulling her towards the other house. "Oi! Temari!"

The other blonde shook her finger at Ino, clearly still screaming into the phone. Ino turned around to face Sakura. "I'm so glad I'm not that guy." Ino stated, jutting her thumb in the direction of the other blonde who was still screaming obscenities into the phone.

"Well, why the hell were you sitting outside your house?" The blonde asked, eyeing Sakura again with the evil-eye.

"My father isn't home." The pink haired girl stated, "I don't have a cell phone or a key, so… I'm not sure what to do. I'm thinking this was a mistake coming here without confirming at least three times that he would be here."

Ino laughed, and pulled Sakura's arm towards the suitcases littered around the door of the older house. "Here. I'll help you with your suitcases and we'll wait at Temari's until your father gets back."

Sakura bit her lip. "I don't want to impose or anything…"

"Nonsense!" Ino said, waving her hand in the air as if her hand would say the word. "It'll be fine, Temari remembers you."

The blonde then grabbed one of the other girl's suitcases, dragging it towards the much larger brick house. Sakura was still skeptical, she hardly knew Temari or her family, despite living next door from them for years.

"Ino, are you sure? I'm not even exact as to what time my father will be back."

"Sakura, it's fine, you have to trust me."

"I know but… still."

"Besides, it's not like Temari can get angrier than she is now."

Sakura sighed and reached for her laptop and messenger bag. She followed behind Ino and silently hoped the older blonde woman wouldn't mind her imposing for a few hours. As she passed by Temari she noticed that was not the case, as the blonde woman patted Sakura's back as she passed by her. Feeling better, the pink haired girl stepped in after Ino and set her bags down next to where the blonde had set her suitcase. Ino then darted out the door, telling Sakura to wait where she was and that she was going to go get the other cases. Sakura almost went to intervene but Ino was already out the door, leaving only Temari standing on the doorstep yelling her head off into the phone.

Sakura looked around as she stepped out of her shoes. To her left there was a gorgeous table with candles and some very expensive looking silverware on napkins. To her right there was a small sitting room, complete with expensive leather armchairs and a loveseat. All the curtains were drawn in the house, making it seem a little dreary, but for some reason it fell perfect with the house. Sakura looked down the hallway and noticed a light coming from the end of it. Looking around for Temari, she saw the woman was still on the doorstep, and a curiosity set in.

Slowly the pink haired girl found herself walking down the hallway, her feet creaking the hardwood floor beneath them. Her mind told her to stop, knowing clearly this was someone else's house and it was very rude to intrude like this, but her body continued to move. As she reached the kitchen, she noticed the light she had seen was just a bulb from the kitchen stove. Laughing to herself she was about to turn around when she heard a door open up the stairs to the right of one of the many hallways. She then heard loud music, and curiosity seemed to overstep the boundaries again as she stepped slowly towards the stairs. When she finally reached the stairs she peaked around the corner, looking for Ino, who had not come back yet and she felt a bit braver. She lifted her leg and stepped down on the hard stair, pulling herself up one at a time. The music was getting louder, and Sakura noticed it wasn't just music, it was trashing and screaming_noise_. It sounded like something a bunch of freaks in a rock band from her all girl's school would listen to. Her mind screamed to go back, but her curious side pushed her forward and up the stairs.

Silently, she lifted herself up the last stair and looked down the hallway to notice one door creaked open, and could tell from the sound echoing off the walls that the noise was coming from there. She knew whoever was up here would not be able to hear her over the music, but she still moved with caution, scared someone was going to come up and bite her. Soon she got to the end of the hallway darkness surrounding her except for the ray of light coming from the open door. Sakura looked around once more, checking her surroundings, it didn't seem like anyone was around. Maybe they were in the room?

Sakura licked her lips and moved her head to look into the opening. The music must have been blaring in there, because when she pressed her hand up against the wall she could tell it was _shaking_. She moved her head around to look into the entire room and almost let out a gasp. Whether she let out a gasp because of the door opening or the warm hand grasping her arm she wasn't sure, but as soon as she was going to turn around the hand pulled her away from the door and pressed her against the wall.

Teeth, that was all she could see in front of her. The light from the room illuminated the hallway enough for her to see the person who grabbed her and pulled her was not Ino or Temari.

"Who are you?" The man growled. After the shock pulled her out of the surprise she was in, she stared at the figure in front of her. It was definitely a man, in fact it was definitely a half naked man. She couldn't see his eyes in the dark, but she could tell from the light illuminating off them that he was glaring at her. His hair was flat and wet, his red strands shining out to her from the light flooding the back of him. It was obvious he was coming back from a shower, considering how his shoulders glistened from the light. The teeth bared again and the man's eyes slit into a deeper more menacing glare. "I do not like asking questions twice girl!"

"S-S-Sakura!" The pink haired girl squeaked out, hoping the man would hear her over the blaring noise coming out of the room. Anything to get away from him. "I'm, I'm a friend of Temari."

"Hn." The man sneered and his grip tightened on her arm. She could tell he didn't believe her.

"Ino let me in, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude." Sakura sputtered out, pressing herself into the wall away from his sneer and glare. His hand slackened, and he let go of her.

"Stay away from me." The man stated and turned his back on her, leaving her sitting there gasping for breath. She kept looking across the hallway at the wall until the light from the door was gone. Breathing in and out Sakura found herself racing towards the front door.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. **

**This is AU. I'm sorry I don't have much else to say. Please be kind and review, constructively only please. Suggestions are welcomed with open arms. **

**EDIT: I edited some content in here that I noticed was misspelled or written badly. Fixed ;D**

**Yes. Sakura is wearing contacts. Hell, you never know, she could very well have bad vision and the glasses would be an interesting thing for her. **


	2. Chapter 2

**What It Tastes Like**

**Chapter 2**

A small yelp came from the pink haired girl as she ran down the stairs of the large house, almost spraining her ankle on the way. Never had she been so scared of someone before to actually run from them, normally they were the ones running from her glare and sneer. Her thoughts couldn't settle as she kept running past the kitchen and down the hallway she had come through. Just as she was about to run herself out the door, a blonde girl stepped in front of it on the outside. Sakura threw all her weight into her legs and tried to brake before running into the screen door. Luckily she had stopped before throwing herself through the glass.

"Sakura?" Ino said with a rather worried look on her face. "Why were you running?"

The pink haired girl pushed herself off the door, panting and put her hands on her knees. "I'm not sure."

Sakura knew her eyes gave away her fright, anyone could tell, she must have looked terrified. Luckily, Ino seemed to push the matter to the side and knocked on the door with her fist.

"Yo, earth to Sakura!" Ino yelled, before opening the door and stepping inside. "Your father came back."

The girl lifted her head and looked at her blonde friend, for once she could say she was happy to know her father had come home. Anything to get away from this house. "Ah.. Alright. Hold on a minute."

Ino laughed slightly, and proceeded to pick up Sakura's laptop and messenger bag from the hallway. The blonde made her way outside, holding the door open for her friend.

Sakura quickly grabbed one of the suitcases Ino had brought in and dragged it out of the house. She noticed Temari was no longer on the porch and was standing next to a dark haired man. As soon as Sakura saw his sharp face, she knew that it was her father. He didn't really look any different, he was still tall, but now instead of sporting a small belly like he used to, he now was almost as thin as a rail. Where he used to have muscles and walk with great posture he now had a small slump. He had on a button-up blue shirt with a patterned tie, and in all honesty didn't look half as bad as when his daughter had last seen him. He looked more tailored and professional. Apart from when his hair used to be messy and long, it was now cut and combed to the side. His face was the thing that surprised her though, he looked so old. The world, divorce and years of unemployment seemed to be taking it's toll on his face and body. As she was walking more towards him and he finally noticed her, Sakura also took note of the grey hairs forming around his small goatee and hairline.

_Well, at least he's not balding._ Sakura thought to herself as she walked almost slowly up to her smiling father. She almost cringed as the man engulfed her into tight hug, not having seen her father in years made her rather think of him as a stranger than the man who raised her.

"Sakura, you look beautiful," her father stated as he pulled away from her, looking at her up and down, making her feel even more uncomfortable than she already was.

"Um… thanks," muttered the girl, trying to look everywhere but her father's face. Temari looked amused at Sakura's comfort level and patted the girl on the back yet again. Ino smiled on the other side of her and looked as though she was about to say something until the man spoke once more.

"I'm sorry I wasn't home," apologized the older man. "I had to run out and get some groceries. I normally only have enough food for one, and I know that wouldn't be enough with you and me here."

Sakura nodded at her father, wishing he would take his hands off her shoulders. "It's okay, really, I wasn't waiting that long."

_But I did get scared out of my wits by a ghost in Temari's house. Thanks DAD._ The pink haired girl thought to herself once more. Truly, it wasn't his fault, but Sakura really didn't want to think her curiosity had snuck her up in Temari's large house to be scared half out of her mind by a red-haired monster.

"Well good!" Her father exclaimed, looking now to Temari. "Thank you for your hospitality again."

Temari waved her hand in the air as if it was no big deal. "It was fine, really, she wasn't in the house for more than a minute or two."

Sakura nodded at the older blonde, then looked over to Ino. "Ino, thanks for helping me with my bags."

The blonde smiled. "No problem!" then looked at her with a small realization on her face. "Hey! Can I have your phone for a moment?"

Sakura ticked her head to the side a bit, then opened her mouth slightly as she noticed what Ino was actually asking for. "I don't have one."

"No cell phone?!" Ino exclaimed, looking shocked and a bit offended by it. Temari chuckled on the side of her and Sakura's father looked a bit uncomfortable, knowing why his daughter didn't have that luxury. He then did the pink haired girl didn't plan on. His released his hands from her shoulders and put his hand on her head lightly.

"Actually, Sakura, I was going to take you tomorrow to get some clothes and a cell phone," her father said rather professionally. "Your new school doesn't have a uniform."

Ino's mouth formed an 'o' at these words. "That's right! You'll be going to school with me after break right!?"

Sakura silently wished she could share Ino's excitement. A co-ed school was just another reason for stress, and even harder to study in. Before, Sakura had no thoughts of boys or bothersome problems as such at her all-girls school. In fact the stress was minimal and the drama was near zero at her old school. But Sakura knew this just spelled trouble, especially for her studies to be attending a co-ed public school.

"Yes, she will be. I already have her enrolled." Sakura's father stated in a proud manner, as though him doing this ahead of time was making him a better person in his daughter's eyes.

Ino let out a squeal and hugged Sakura tightly. The pink haired girl could hear Temari chuckling in the background again, and her father even let out a light hearted laugh.

"Yatta! I can't believe you're going to be going to the same school!" The young blonde giggled out. "I can't wait, it'll be like old times! Except without Temari, she already graduated."

Sakura smiled at Ino with a half-heart. She wasn't that excited about going to this school, but at least she would have a friend around. The pink haired girl was almost surprised that Temari had already graduated, but considering that Sakura would be a senior at her high school, it seemed just about right. The older blonde was probably in her early twenties by now and finished with school, she always had been at the top of her class unlike her brother. Sakura smiled a bit, remembering Kankuro and his stupid antics of being a rebel at school. The pink haired girl remembered him running around the schoolyard during recess, and being a bully to some of the younger kids. Silently, she wondered if Kankuro had even graduated high school with how he used to act. After wondering a bit about Kankuro and his schooling, Sakura's mind floated back to the red-haired man in Temari's house. Her mind crossed out the wonderment of Kankuro being that man, for Sakura knew the boy had brown hair, and would have never threatened her or sneered at her in any way.

Sighing, Sakura's mind went back to the situation in front of her. Ino was asking the older man a question and Temari was picking up her phone again. After a few seconds of talking on the phone, Temari waved at Sakura with a smile and walked back towards her house. The pink haired girl watched the older blonde lean on her SUV and listen intently to whatever the person on the other line was saying.

"Sakura, HELLOOOO!" Ino yelled out as she stood right in front of the girl, her hands on her hips in a very mother like manner. "Your father said I could take you tomorrow to go shopping before we go back to school on Monday, whaddya say?"

"Um, sure why not?" Sakura smiled at her old friend, and the blonde's eyes lit up. And Sakura again felt a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll give you my debit card, you can get however much you like." Sakura's father said, a large proud smile on his face. She knew he was proud of himself to be able to provide her with some items she needed for the first time in a long while.

"Great! Sakura, I'll come pick you up at noon tomorrow so we can get everything done, okay?" Ino seemed to recommend the time as she said it, knowing the best time to go to the mall was Ino's specialty, not Sakura's.

"Sure, sounds good to me."

"Yatta! Okay, I'll be here tomorrow at noon! You better be ready!" Ino exclaimed as she turned around, giving a wave beforehand. "I'll see you then!"

The pink haired girl watched her friend run up to Temari, all smiles, and then run quickly back into the house. Temari slowly walked in after the younger blonde and Sakura silently wished she was going with them. She was no where near comfortable around her father, and secretly she didn't even want to be in this town at all.

"Sakura, come on, let's go inside. I'll show you your room."

"Alright. I'll be right there." Sakura said, looking back at her father and then grabbing her suitcase, messenger bag and laptop case in her arms. She watched as her father moved away from her and picked up the remaining suitcases, slowly making his way up the stairs as Sakura watched him from behind.

Again, silently, Sakura wished tomorrow would come sooner.

**A/N: Alrighty! I finished up this chapter in time. Not much went on, but yes, Sakura is going into high school. For those of you that do not know how most American public schools work in terms of dress code and morality. It's simple, most high schools have a "dean" or a principal of the school. We also do not have uniforms or entrance exams, pretty much if you are willing to pay the price, you are allowed into the school. It's not really hard to understand, it's just really lax from other school systems that I know of. **

**Thank you all for your reviews and I will have a new chapter up by the end of this week. It will consist of Sakura and Ino shopping, the first night at Sakura's old house and the first day of school. Along with them meeting someone new, at the mall Not saying who though! **

**Read and Review constructively please. I take observations and suggestions with open arms!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. **


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